You are driving into Sheboygan and witness a car running a red light and T-boning another car in the intersection. Further investigation reveals that the driver who ran the red light hit his windshield with his head and is bleeding profusely; the driver of the T-boned car cannot get out of her vehicle because her leg is trapped between the seat and the middle console.
You call 911 and the Sheriff’s department answers the call and asks you questions regarding the emergency. After relating all of the information that you have, the dispatcher tells you that he will transfer you to the city. A few seconds later a city dispatcher answers the call and asks you all of the same questions. Meanwhile, to the people in need of medical attention, “seconds mean lives,” said Adam Payne, Sheboygan county administrator.
Sheboygan has recently reached an agreement for the merging of the Sheboygan county and city dispatch centers, and for the next three years, will be working to consolidate the two centers in the Sheriff’s department.
Effectively bringing these two entities for dispatching together will take a lot of time which is the reason for the three year process.
“The sheriff’s department was adamant that we have a time table that positions them up for success, so that they don’t rush into things,” said Payne.
According to Communications Manager Sgt. Kristine DeBlaey, M.S., there are currently 14 dispatchers working for the city and 12 dispatchers working for the county. By the end of the process, there will be 24 dispatchers total, four supervisors, and one manager who oversees the entire department.
“One of the first things I’m going to do as we roll forward now is we [Sheriff’s department] are going to be look to promote four supervisors…We will be opening it up to both the city and the county dispatcher centers to try and get the four people,” said DeBlaey.
Another change that is going to take place is the construction of the Sheriff’s department to better accommodate the larger dispatching staff. However, it’s not without its difficulties.
DeBlaey said, “When you have a 24-7 operation, you can’t do reconstruction in there because they need quiet while they are working. So wherever you do it, you have to move the construction to another area of the building.”
Current dispatchers are also going to be going through a lot of changes with technology, location, personnel, and job requirements.
“We [county dispatchers] will have to learn streets, addresses, and buildings in the city of Sheboygan; those dispatchers will have to learn locations and landmarks of things out in the county,” said Brett Pilling, county dispatcher and Lakeland graduate.
Josh Grunewald, county dispatcher, says, “I look forward to being able to expand my dispatching abilities and my ability to learn the city and the county. Just like I got to know all of the deputies in my time here, I’ll get to know the city officers [just the same].”
Even though dispatchers will need to overcome new challenges, Pilling says that it is “long overdue.”
“It will make how we do our jobs more efficient. We won’t have to transfer cell calls that were made in the city that come here [through 911] over to them. We will be able to process those calls and dispatch the appropriate units quicker,” said Pilling. “Just like the game Telephone; from the start to the time you end, things change. The more people you involve, the more room for error.”
Every change comes with a price tag though. The city of Sheboygan will need to provide a one-time contribution of $2.5 million to help with the costs of merging the dispatch centers.
What this is going to mean for the Sheboygan community is city taxpayers will see a reduction in the amount of taxes they pay every year, while rural taxpayers will see an increase. Up until this point city taxpayers were paying for both the city and county dispatch centers, while the county taxpayers were only paying for the county dispatch centers; thus, the tax shift will equalize the taxes for all citizens.
“As county administrator, I have to present and balance a budget and anything that adds cost is difficult to swallow with tax levy caps and the many demands that we have on us. So what was unique about this consolidation is most consolidations you have an immediate savings, but this one we didn’t. The reason we don’t is because both dispatch centers have been clamoring for additional supervision for some time,” said Payne.
Although Lakeland is located outside the city, Lakeland will not feel any repercussions of the tax shift. According to Laura Henning-Lorenz, Sheboygan county treasurer, Lakeland is tax exempt due to the fact that it is a non-profit organization.
The merging of the dispatch centers may create great opportunities for Lakeland students.
“I do think there will be job opportunities for students coming out of there [Lakeland], because we are going to be doing so much hiring in the future. I think it’s going to create opportunity for people who want to [apply]…[There is also a] unique opportunity we may have for somebody in CJ to do an internship here,” said DeBlaey.